Auxiliary car-step.



E. L. CARROLL.

AUXILIARY GAB STEP. APPLIUATIOK FILED APR 28 1908 Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

@uuentoi devised which can be ELBEBT L. CARROLL, OF ORESTON, IOWA.

AUXILIARY CAR-STEP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed. April 28, 1908. Serial No. 429,737.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELBERT L. CARROLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Creston, in the county of Union and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Auxiliary Car-Step, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to auxiliary steps to be used on cars in connection with the present steps, and has for its object to provide a step which can be moved into operative position at the foot of each flight of steps leading to the platform of a car for the benefit of persons entering and leaving the car, and when not in use the auxiliary steps are to be elevated into position to form guards or barriers at the sides of the platforms to prevent persons descending from, or boarding the car while in motion.

A further object of the invention is to so assemble the mechanism for working the steps that theycan be simultaneously operated from one or both platforms by turning a crank or moving a lever.

On certain ty es of cars, pa ticularly electrically operatedbars used for interurban and suburban traflic, the platforms of these cars are, from the necessities of the service, elevated or raised above the road bed a greater distance than on urban cars and this distance is such that it cannot be divided into equal parts for the steps and give each step the normal tread height without bringing the bottom step so close to the ground as to be dangerous. To avoid this danger the usual custom is to omit the lowermost possible step, thus making the distance from the ground to the first step very high and diflicult to reach by elderly people, invalids and others. To overcome this difficulty the auxiliary car step, hereinafter described in detail has been quickly and safely lowered into operative position and as quickly raised out of danger by the motorman with little trouble or exertion.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:'

Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic lan view of the two latforms of a car with t e invention ap he one half in front elevation and the other half in section through the platform, equipped Fig. 2 an end view of a carwith with the improved auxiliary steps and the operating mechanism therefor, and Fig. 3 a diagrammatic view illustrating a modification. Fig. 4 is a detail view of another modiiication.

Similar reference numerals are used for the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawing let 1 and 2 indicate the front and rear platforms, respectively, of an electrically operated railroad car which extend in any well known manner from the ends of the car body 3, each platform being provided as usual with fixed steps 4 at each side. The cars to which this invention is most applicable are those intended for traveling long distances and at a high rate of speed and are, therefor, provided with larger motors and wheels of greater diameter than the ordinary electric car which, necessarily, raises the car body a greater distance from the ground. This increased elevation of the body, in a large majority of cases, raises the bottom steps to such a height that it is more or less difficult to reach them when standing on the ground. To obviate this difficulty a movable auxiliary step 5 is here provided for each flight of steps 4, each step 5 being rigidly attached at each end to the lower end of an arm 6 inclined inwardly, and fixed on a horizontal shaft 7 journaledin bearings 8 rigidly bolted to the car steps or otherwise secured below the same. Arranged in this manner the shafts 7 may be rocked so as to lower the auxiliary steps 5 into position for the use of passengers, as represented in full lines Fig. 2, or raised as indicated by dotted lines, to form a barrier for preventing persons entering or leaving the car while in motion.

Bolted or otherwise fastened, on the bottom step of each flight 4 are brackets or stop blocks 6 which limit the downward movement of the arms 6 and su port the auxiliary steps a proper distance below the steps 4. The auxiliary steps are a little shorter than the fixed steps 4 to permit their elevation to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. If necessary, a recess 3 will be made in each corner of the car for the arms 6 when the steps 5 are raised. The auxiliary steps 5 may be operated individually or simultaneouslyfrom one platform, the latter being the preferred method of .operation. One type of mechanism for raising the steps 5 is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and

.shaft 9 a lever 24 is fulcrumed a rod 25 with an arm 26 on the as there shown it comprises a shaft 9 extending longitudinally of the car beneath the body to the ends of the platforms and mounted for rotation in bearings, not shown. Two grooved Wheels 10 and 11 or a barrel'12, are fixed on the shaft 9 below each platform, around which wheels or barrel and fastened thereto are chains 13 which extend laterally in opposite directions each to a grooved wheel 14 keyed or pinned on the shaft 7 of a movable step 5. The chains 13 are fastened to the grooved wheels 14 and after winding partly around them, pass over said wheels to the grooved wheels 10 and 11, the chains from one side passing over the wheels 10 while those from the opposite side pass under the wheels 11 so that when the longitudinal shaft 9 is rotated in one direction all the step shafts 7 will be rocked to raise the steps 5, and when turned in the opposite direction the steps will fall by their own weight to operative position with the arms 6 resting on the brackets or stop blocks 6".

Mounted on the front platform 1, or both platforms if desired, is a vertical shaft 15 provided with a crank handle 16 on its upper end and a grooved wheel 17 on its lower end below the platform between which wheel and a like wheel 18 on the longitudinal shaft 9 is a chain 19 fastened by its ends to the wheels 17 and 18 respectively. It is obvious that when the crank handle is turned in one direction the chain 19 will windupon the grooved wheel 17 and rotate the grooved wheel 18 and with it, the shaft 9, raising the steps 5. A reverse rotation of the crank handle releases the chains and the steps fall. Suitable means such as a pawl and ratchet wheel may be applied to the shaft for holding the steps in elevated position. One or more of the auxiliary steps, may be retained in elevated position to prevent use of the fixed steps 4 with which it is connected by inserting a pin 20 in the car on the outer side of the arm 6 while the step is raised, preventing it from falling when the others are released.

Instead of using wheels and chains for raising the auxiliary steps, arms 21 and 22 may extend from opposite sides of the shaft 9 beneath the platform 1 and 2, from the ends of which arms connecting rods 22 extend to opposite sides of the car and are there pivoted to arms 23 on the step shafts 7, or as represented in Fig. 3, to the inner edges of the steps 5. In this latter case the steps 5 are not secured to pivoted arms, but are themselves hinged at their inner edges directly to the car step frames. In place of the shaft 15 for operating the longitudinal on the platform intermediate its ends to swing laterally of the car and has its lower end connected by shaft 9. It is evident that by rocking the lever 24, movement will be imparted through the shaft 9 to the auxiliary steps 5 and raise and lower them.

The invention as described is quite simple and devoid of all intricate and delicate parts and therefore, the liability of the mechanism to get out of order is reduced to the minimum. It is not a source of danger because of the impossibility of any one being caught in it. Gates would not be needed with this device at the entrances and exits of the cars, as are now used, and this device is, in this respect, a safety device. The steps are to be operated by the motorman in the same manner as the brakes are applied.

What is claimed is 1. An auxiliary car step comprising a step pivoted to swing below the fixed steps of a car and above the platform of said car to form a guard or barrier, means for operating said step, and means for locking the auxiliary step in elevated position.

2. An auxiliary car step comprising a step mounted on arms pivoted to a car and adapted to swing below the fixed steps of a car and above the platform of said car to form a guard or barrier, means for operating said step, and means for locking the auxiliary step in elevated position.

3. An auxiliary car step pivotally mounted at each corner of a car and adapted to swing below the fixed steps at said corners and above said steps to form a guard or barrier, and means operatively connected with said steps for moving the same simultaneously to raised and lowered positions.

4. An auxiliary car step pivotally mounted at each corner of a car and adapted to swing below the fixed steps at said corners and above said steps to form a guard or barrier therefor, a longitudinal rock shaft provided with means for moving said auxiliary steps simultaneously to elevated and lowered positions and means for rocking said longitudinal shaft.

5. An auxiliary car step pivotally mounted at each corner of a car and adapted to swing below the fixed steps leading to the platforms of said car and above said steps to form a guard or barrier at the sides of said platform, a longitudinal rock shaft provided with wheels beneath said platform, a wheel fixed in the axis of movement of each auxiliary step, chains fastened at their end to the wheels on the rock shaft and on the auxiliary steps on which wheels the chains are adapted to be wound, and means forrocking said shaft.

6. An auxiliary car step pivotally mounted at each corner of a car and adapted to swing below the fixed steps at said corners and above said steps to form a guard or barrier, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the car below the bottom, means on said rock shaft for operating said auxiliary steps, a

Vertical shaft, wheels on the longitudinal and Vertical shafts and a chain fixed at its ends to said wheels and adapted to be wound thereon.

7. An auxiliary car step comprising a step, an arm secured to each end of said step, a shaft mounted to turn in bearings below the fixed steps at one side of the car platform and means on said platform for turning said shaft and lowering said auxiliary step below the fixed steps and raising said auxiliary step above the plane of the platform to form a guard or barrier.

8. An auxiliary car step pivotally mounted at each corner of a car and adapted to swing into position below the fixed steps leading to the platforms at the ends of the car and above said fixed steps to form guards or barriers, means for simultaneously operating said auxiliary steps, and means for holding any step in raised position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELBERT L. CARROLL.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. BErTs, O. W. CARROLL. 

